Magpul 5.56 magazines

[omahahaha]

Kind of new to the AR thing. My smith and wesson AR-15 shoots .223's. I got a Magpul 5.56x45 mag from a gun shop and that is what they said should work for my AR. With .223 being slightly smaller is there any risk of misfeeds or other wear using a mag stamped 5.56 (I am loading .223's into them.)

Does anyone else use magpul's?

[5.56RifleGuy]

Yeah they will be fine for you. I have several and they always work very well.

[KChen986]

Magpul Mags are some of the best AR15 mags out there. You shouldn't have problems w/ .223 in there.

[rjrivero]

The mags won't care if you're loading .223 or 5.56.

[omahahaha]

So I did some more research just on my model of gun and S&W does in fact chamber their AR for 5.56, but when I purchased it it was labeled .223

How interchangable are the rounds?

[HorseSoldier]

Pretty close to 100% interchangable in the vast majority of guns.

[RockyMtnTactical]

5.56 and .223 are dimensionally the same. PMAG's are excellent.

[omahahaha]

Thanks, guys. I'd figured as much. Just wanted to hear it from some other people. Can't be too safe or ask too many dumb questions when it comes to exploding gun powder out of a high powered rifle. :D

[rjrivero]

So I did some more research just on my model of gun and S&W does in fact chamber their AR for 5.56, but when I purchased it it was labeled .223

What was labeled .223?

The barrel marking is where it counts. If the chamber is cut for the extra leade of the 5.56 Nato round, then you can run the .223 or 5.56 Nato without any issues. If the gun is cut for .223 Remington then some will warn that firing it with 5.56 can lead to higher pressure situations because of the difference in the leade.

The lower can be marked with any caliber or number you want, but the chamber is in the barrel, so look for your mark there.

[DanThaMan1776]

the exterior dimensions of 556 and 223 are identical.. the difference is in the thickness of the 556 case to increase psi. It will work fine, and you have the best mag for the ar 15 out there :cool:

[rjrivero]

the exterior dimensions of 556 and 223 are identical.. the difference is in the thickness of the 556 case to increase psi.

This is not exactly true. There is A LOT of similarity between the two rounds, and they will both feed in the same magazines.
Link Here. (http://www.thegunzone.com/556v223.html)

Link Here. (http://www.fulton-armory.com/556-vs-223-Chambers.htm)


Evil Wikipedia link HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.223_Remington).


The two rounds are NOT completely interchangeable. The leade on the 5.56 is a bit longer, and while it MAY NOT cause a problem, the bullet itself may indeed make contact with the rifling. Contact with the rifling can cause a spike in pressure in normal situations, but combined with the fact that the 5.56 is loaded 10,000 cup higher than the .223 to begin with this pressure spike can ruin your day.

While I agree the differences between these rounds won't make ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE MAGAZINES, you DO need to be cautious about putting milsurp ammo in a rifle truly chambered for .223 Remington.

I know this is a bit off the original topic, but I think it's important to keep this issue clear, especially for new shooters.

[ostrobothnian]

Contact with the rifling can cause a spike in pressure in normal situations

:confused:

Is this not a normal occurrence? All three of the ARs I have do this with RG milsurp. If I load a magazine and let the bolt fly, remove the magazine then extract the round manually I find that the bullet has slight rifling marks on it. Too small to take a picture of and you really have to look close, but they are there? I'm SURE that when the rifle cycles normally all the rounds would encounter the same situation.

Haven't had a barrel "ruin my day", ever.

[Art Eatman]

Dunno but what this will add to the confusion about .223 vs. 5.56: Seems to me that there is US GI and then there is everything else, when it comes to "5.56" labelling. I don't know if "milsurp" is loaded to US GI specs.

Easy enough to believe whatever's said about US GI pressures being higher than commercial .223. Me, I don't really know, but many gun makers do so claim.

Anybody who has concern about a chamber marked ".223" can easily have it reamed out to extend the leade that small amount which makes it safe with 5.56 US GI ammo.

[Zak Smith]

Is this not a normal occurrence? All three of the ARs I have do this with RG milsurp. If I load a magazine and let the bolt fly, remove the magazine then extract the round manually I find that the bullet has slight rifling marks on it. Too small to take a picture of and you really have to look close, but they are there? I'm SURE that when the rifle cycles normally all the rounds would encounter the same situation.

No, it's not normal. If the bullet contacts the lands when it's chambered and there's enough friction, there will be resistance to extracting the loaded round and in the worst cases, the bullet can get stuck.

[B. Lahey]

If I load a magazine and let the bolt fly, remove the magazine then extract the round manually I find that the bullet has slight rifling marks on it

Those aren't rifling marks, they are scratches from the round's ride up the feedramp. ARs do that a lot, it's normal.